


Endless blue

by aqd



Series: Halloween Countdown 2017 [3]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Halloween, M/M, Mermaids, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Ocean, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 03:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12160560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqd/pseuds/aqd
Summary: He keeps hearing movement in the water and catches glimpses of something light and then it’s gone. He has often the uncomfortable feeling that something is watching him.Or someone.





	Endless blue

**Author's Note:**

> Part #3 of my Halloween one shot countdown! This is so much fun.  
> I hope you have a nice day.
> 
> (i had to re-upload because of some technical issues)

The first time Kanda sees the creature is on a rainy day. He’s on the open sea, all alone besides the captain, who takes a nap in the bridge of their small fishing cutter. Kanda takes care of the nets and sees movement in the corner of his eye. He turns his head and catches a glimpse of something light and then it disappears in the blue sea. He shrugs it off and goes back to work. Probably a big fish.

  


It starts to happen more often, whenever he’s alone on deck. He hears movement in the water and catches glimpses of something light and then it’s gone. He has often the uncomfortable feeling that something is watching him. Or someone. He doesn’t talk with the captain about it, because the old man is a gossip and drunk nearly all the time.

  


This goes on for weeks. He feels calmer ashore, but as soon as they’re on the open see, it appears. He stops turning his head. Instead he watches out of the corner of his eyes and sometimes it stays, only a few metres away, until it submerges after a while. Its brightness stands out against the endless blue of sea and sky. It watches him and he has no idea what kind of animal would watch a human like this.

  


And then it ends up in one of his nets. It’s a sunny and hot day and the captain is hopelessly drunk. Kanda pulls in the nets and everything is normal until suddenly nothing is normal anymore. There’s movement in one of the nets, between fishes and seaweed and Kanda hesitates. He sees a pale tailfin and his heart starts to race. It’s big, way too big for a fish and for a moment he thinks that he caught a shark or something similar.  
  
But only until a hand appears, as pale as the fin and Kanda stops dead. Slim webbed fingers grasp for nothing and Kanda’s hand moves on its own. He releases the haul and the content of the net lands on deck. Fishes thrash around helplessly and finally he can see it.  
  
It’s a person, pale and beautiful. With a tailfin.  
  
For the first time in his life Kanda has no words and stares at the creature with mouth agape. It looks back at him, equally shocked. Seconds pass and both of them don’t move.  
  
The creature’s eyes jump over him and finally to the sea. It looks at him in mortal fear and Kanda raises an arm. He points at the ocean and inhales deeply.  
  
“Just go,” he says and his voice is less firm than usual. “Leave.”  
  
It stares at him and finally it starts to move tentatively, while Kanda doesn’t budge. It uses its hands and tailfin to move towards the railing and then it hauls itself up with difficulty. It darts a last look at Kanda and then it submerges into the blue sea and he’s all alone amidst dying fishes.

  


From now on it appears on a regular basis. _He_.  
  
They watch each other and both of them stay silent. Strangely enough Kanda gets somehow used to him and soon his discomfort ceases. Weeks pass and he appears nearly every day. Sometimes he raises a hand and Kanda waves back.  
  
He vanishes always as soon as the captain wakes up and sometimes Kanda wonders if he has lost his mind.

  


Sometimes he takes his time to examine the creature, who does the same. He’s pale, very pale, and his eyes have the colour of the sky on a rainy day, surrounded by lashes as a colourless as his hair. There’s something ethereal about him, likely due to his pristine features.  
  
They lock eyes and after a moment the creature smiles. Kanda doesn’t smile back.

  


Short time later the captain dies and Kanda loses his job. The following weeks are hard and it’s only due to the captain’s widow that he doesn’t lose his home. She sells the fishing cutter and buys a smaller boat and now he works for her. The payment isn’t good and he has to learn how to catch shellfishes, but at least he has a job.  
  
He spends his days completely alone on the small boat and when he isn’t looking after the traps, he has to repair broken ones.  
  
The creature doesn’t appear for a few days and Kanda wonders, if he’s going to see him ever again and finally he emerges out of deep blue water and carefully examines the new ship. Kanda raises his hand and the creature waves back.  
  
They watch each other like they have done so often in the past and after a while the creature lays his arms over the low railing to get a better view on the broken trap in Kanda’s hand and he finally decides to say something.  
  
“What’s your name?” he asks and turns the trap in his hands. The creature examines him and stays silent. “My name is Kanda.”  
  
“Kanda,” he repeats and it sounds like a melody, so soft. Kanda nods and looks at him.  
  
“Do you have a name?” he asks and the creature frowns softly and his grey eyes wander over the ocean.  
  
“Call me Allen,” he answers finally and reaches out. Kanda stares at his hand and Allen smiles. “Don’t you humans greet like this?”  
  
Kanda takes his cool hand in his own and they shake hands, before he draws back and goes back to paying attention to his broken trap.

  


They don’t talk often. Kanda doesn’t ask why Allen started to watch him, and Allen doesn’t ask why he keeps staying on the open sea, even after his work is done.  
  
Sometimes they trade. Allen brings him stuff he found and Kanda gives him fishes, which got lost in one of his traps. Today Allen brought him a coconut and Kanda took it, even though the beach is full of palm trees. He sits on the railing and eats the fish Kanda has given him and his tailfin shimmers silvery in the sunlight. It’s the first time Kanda can really examine his lower body and he stares at his fin and forgets about the trap he has to repair.  
  
Allen notices his look and moves his tailfin a little, maybe to allow him a better view, maybe just because he can. Human skin and fish scales merge into each other somewhere around his waist and Kanda knows that here’s only one word to describe the creature in front of him, but he refuses to even think about it.

  


Sometimes Allen helps him when one of his traps gets caught and sometimes he tags along when Kanda swims down to have a look at them. He wears diving googles and a snorkel and dives down and Allen moves around him and looks so different underwater. His skin is less pale and his eyes are glinting as silvery as his scales in the sun. His hair swirls around his face and sometimes he reaches out and touches Kanda, mostly his legs. He seems to be as fascinated by them as Kanda is by his tailfin and it’s hard to concentrate when two cool hands delve over his calves.  
  
Kanda shoots a look at the surface and starts to swim upwards, because he needs some air, and Allen closes his hands around his waist and pushes him up so much quicker than he could ever swim. His head breaks through the surface and he inhales deeply. Allen appears next to him and they lock eyes.  
  
“You’re not very good at swimming,” he says and Kanda frowns.  
  
“And you’re not very good at walking,” he counters and Allen laughs and it’s as melodic as his voice.

  


Sometimes Allen hauls himself over the low railing and lies on deck right next to him. They still don’t talk much, because Kanda’s taciturn and he has no idea what kind of small talk would be appropriate for a conversation with a mythical creature, and so they just sit next to each other and Allen learns how to darn nets and traps and Kanda learns how to break open clams without a tool. Allen devours the soft innards and Kanda keeps the shells, because they’re beautiful and Allen always tries to open the clams without damaging them.

  


Sometimes Allen pushes the legs of his pants up and examines his knees and feet with a frown. These are the days they talk more. He asks a lot of questions and Kanda can’t answer most of them, because he doesn’t know a lot about anatomy, but he still tries.  
  
Kanda doesn’t touch his scales and fin, because it’s easier to ignore this way that he spends his time with a creature, which can impossibly exist.

  


One day Allen appears way later than usual and Kanda knows immediately that something is wrong. He has problems to haul himself over the railing and when Kanda tries to help him, he sees the blood.  
  
A deep cut, starting on his forehead and ending on his cheek. The eye is fortunately not hurt and Kanda cleans the wound. Allen doesn’t tell him what has happened and Kanda doesn’t ask.  
  
Allen thanks him and disappears back into the ocean and a day later Kanda discovers the traces of his gratitude.  
  
His traps are as full as they never have been before.

  


The wound doesn’t become infected, but a scar stays behind. It makes him more humanlike and less supernal and sometimes Kanda traces the scar with his fingers.  
  
He leaves the boat more often and together they swim from trap to trap to check if everything is in order, even though it’s unnecessary. Kanda starts to wear his hair more often loose, because Allen seems to be fascinated by it, especially underwater. He reaches into the inky sea and runs his fingers through silky strands. Kanda pointes upwards and Allen smiles and lays his arms around his waist to bring him to the surface.  
  
Kanda takes deep breaths and wraps his arms around his neck. They stay like this for a while, all alone in the endless blue of sky and sea besides from colourful fishes and the shore in some distance.

  


Allen likes to tease and play pranks on him and Kanda complains with furrowed brows, but he doesn’t ask him to stop. Instead he gives him a taste of his own medicine and they bicker and banter, but not too serious.

  


The widow is worried, because he works every day and never takes a day off, but she calms down after he explains her how much he enjoys the work. That’s not true, rather he enjoys the silence and company.

  


“I need your help!”  
  
Kanda looks up in surprise. Allen didn’t emerge until now and he already thought he wouldn’t show up today. He clings to the railing and is clearly distressed.  
  
“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt again?” he asks and Allen shakes his head impatiently.  
  
“My friend, he got caught in a net,” he explains quickly. “Please help me.”  
  
Kanda gets up, takes his utensils and in the next moment he’s already in the water. Allen takes his hands and together they dart through the water. Kanda only needs two breathing pauses and then they’re there.  
  
It’s the first time he sees another person of Allen’s kind, even though he can’t make out a lot in the chaos of nets and ropes. They’re helplessly tangled and Allen darts past him and takes his friend’s hand.  
  
“Everything is going to be alright,” he says and his voice sounds nearly eerily underwater. “He’s going to cut you free, right, Kanda?”  
  
Kanda nods and lays cautiously a hand on the dark green tailfin in front of him.  
  
“Please don’t cut me,” a male voice says, sounding exhausted. His fin barely moves under Kanda’s hand and carefully he starts to cut him free. He needs several breathing pauses and the periods, in which he can stay underwater and work his way through the mess of ropes and nets, grow shorter and shorter. He manages to free his hands and now all three of them work together.  
  
He looks surprisingly different than Allen. His skin is darker, his hair dark red and his eyes as green as seagrass. Kanda gives his best to work quickly and concentrated and he only notices them after Allen’s friend is finally free.  
  
He sees movement out of the corner of his eye, turns his head and freezes. Dozens of them, all around him. They watch him cautiously and his eyes jump over tailfins in different colours, swirling hair and faces as pristine as Allen’s.  
  
Somebody takes his hand. It’s Allen’s friend. “Thank you so much,” he says and all Kanda can do is to nod. “I’m in your debt,” he speaks on and they start to move around him. Cool fingers brush over his legs and reach into his hair and curious eyes wander over his face. They whisper with each other and Kanda is stone-still until he starts to feel dizzy. He slowly moves upwards and they disappear as quickly as they have turned up.  
  
Allen brings him to the surface and later back to his boat and from now on there isn’t a single day his traps are empty.

  


They keep meeting each other every day and sometimes Allen’s friend comes along. He doesn’t climb into his boat, but he watches him from the water and sometimes brings him gifts in the form of fishes, lobsters and once an old coin covered in algae.

  


Life goes on and everything is fine, until Kanda makes a mistake, which could easily kill him. He miscalculates the weather one day and when he notices, the storm has already caught up to him. The strong current drags him out to the high sea and there’s nothing he can do.  
  
The sea rages around him and his small boat threatens to keel over. It rains heavily and forked lightning illuminates the dark grey sky and Kanda does something he has never done before.  
  
He calls for Allen.  
  
His voice is relatively calm until a huge wave hits the boat and he loses his grip. He falls helplessly over the deck and hits the railing hardly and then he’s in the water. Dark waves throw him around and suddenly he’s underwater and becomes lost. Kanda is a good swimmer, but he has no chance.  
  
He fights and swims and his head breaks through the surface. He inhales greedily and the next wave hits him and knocks him underwater. This time he doesn’t find the surface. He gets tossed around helplessly and for the first time in years, he’s truly afraid. His lungs scream for air and his visions darkens and he just knows that it’s over.  
  
And then something bright appears in the churned water in front of him. He reaches out and his hand lands on smooth scales. Allen wraps his arms around him and together they reach the surface. Kanda gasps for air and coughs and presses his nails hard enough in Allen’s shoulders to break skin.  
  
Allen sees the huge wave before him and his voice is nearly inaudible in the storm. “Hold your breath!” Kanda inhales deeply and then they’re back underwater and Allen dives down and takes Kanda with him and the wave doesn’t hit them.  
  
The water around them is darker and a little calmer, but they still get tossed around and even Allen has no chance against the raging sea. He wraps an arm around Kanda and his other hand cups his cheek.  
  
“Do you trust me?” he asks and his voice sounds so much softer than the sea around them. Kanda nods and Allen gives him a warm smile and presses his lips on Kanda’s.  
  
And the world stands still for a moment. The sea freezes and pleasant silence lays heavily on Kanda’s eardrums. The kiss is soft and innocent and tastes like the ocean and hope. Kanda lays a hand on the back of Allen’s head and suddenly he feels so light, so calm, so sanguine.  
  
Allen draws back and his smile is even brighter than his hair. “Breathe,” he says and the logical part of Kanda’s brain protests screamingly, but his heart bounces in his chest and he inhales. Oxygen flows into his lungs and through his whole body and he’s so relieved.  
  
They lock eyes and Kanda hears them before he sees them. Dozens of his kind, above, around and beneath them.  
  
They sing and the melody is beautiful and haunting at the same time and goes right through him. Allen joins in and Kanda is imbued with serenity he has never felt before in his life. Allen’s friend passes by and smiles reassuringly at him and his green eyes glint.  
  
The singing becalms the sea and the wind and strong waves die down. The sky clears up and rays of sunshine reach them and Allen eyes, his hair and his fin shimmer silvery.  
  
Kanda sees movement and his boat ascends slowly out of the deep sea. It breaks though the surface and he looks at Allen in honest surprise.  
  
“You saved one of us and this is our way to repay our debt. You have nothing to fear from the sea for the rest of your life,” he explains and slowly the melody dies down. They surface and Kanda has to close his eyes, because of the blinding sun light.  
  
His boat is damaged, disabled and adrift, but not at the ground of the ocean. He manages to climb over the railing and the boat starts to move. Several tailfins glint colourful in the sunlight and Kanda lays on deck and closes his eyes in deep relieve.  
  
They accompany him until he spots the sea rescue. Allen hauls himself up the railing and intertwines their fingers with a smile, before he disappears with his friends.

  


The very next day Kanda starts to repair his boat, because somebody has to look after the traps.  
  
And Allen is waiting for him.

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for part 4. The name is "Walls of Fog", it's a ghost au and the ships are yulma and laviyuu.  
> Have a nice week and see you next friday!


End file.
